Bo Li – OpenSecrets Newshttps://www.opensecrets.org/news
Breaking news, original reporting, and investigative journalism *on money in politics from the Center for Responsive PoliticsMon, 19 Nov 2018 22:25:20 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.8Midterms attracting new deep-pocketed donorshttps://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/02/midterms-attracting-new-donors/
Tue, 20 Feb 2018 17:53:11 +0000https://www.opensecrets.org/news/?p=25136Twenty-seven new donors broke onto the scene last year by giving at least $100,000 to political causes after contributing no more than $20,000 from 1989 to 2016. It’s an eclectic group to say the least.

The president of a medical marijuana wholesaler, an investor whose son lobbied the White House on behalf of Venezuela and Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge’s wife made the list.

So did the CEO of an L.A.-basedvideo game company, a wealthy student in Oregon and a Texas retiree who made over 1,400 distinct donations in 2017.

Twenty-seven new donors broke onto the scene last year by giving at least $100,000 to political causes after contributing no more than $20,000 from 1989 to 2016. It’s an eclectic group to say the least.

The only obvious through line between these top donors is that the vast majority — 23 of the 27 — gave to Republican causes.

Top 27 new donors (2018 cycle)

Donor

Occupation / Employer

2017

1989 - 2016

Diff.

Top Recipient(s)

Greg Lindberg

Eli Research

$622,500

$7,900

$614,600

North Carolina Republican Party

Michael Porter

Retired

$500,000

$0

$500,000

#ProjectRedTX

Austin Marxe

AWM Investment

$350,050

$11,275

$338,775

Senate Majority PAC

Lianbo Wang

Thompson Education Center

$339,500

$6,050

$333,450

Trump Victory

R.W. Habboush

Habboush Group

$334,000

$0

$334,000

RNC

Lily Kin

Lawrence Consulting

$301,300

$12,500

$288,800

Trump Victory

Adam Pritzker

Assembled Brands

$300,000

$2,000

$298,000

Future Now Fund

Tom Gates

Espejo Energy

$294,000

$9,500

$284,500

Team Ryan, MacArthur Victory

Daniel & Michelle Ainge

Boston Celtics

$255,400

$18,000

$237,400

Conservative Utah

Yu Kevin Guan

N.A. Trucking Associations

$235,625

$0

$235,625

Trump Victory

Adam Kidan & Tracy Schneider-Kidan

Chartwell Staffing Solutions

$146,200

$7,700

$138,500

NRC

David & Debra Magerman

Six Points Restaurant

$122,750

$2,000

$120,750

Congressional Republicans

James & Julie Brookshire

S&B Engineers & Constructors

$121,200

$16,000

$105,200

Team Ryan

Lorna Auerbach

Auerbach Realty Holdings

$117,910

$8,076

$109,834

NRCC, McCarthy Victory Fund

Patricia Walker

Retired

$116,758

$0

$116,758

DNC, End Citizens United

Bo Li

Thompson Education Center

$115,435

$170

$115,265

RNC

Charles & Kimberly Marshall

Beacon Marshall Companies

$110,800

$15,381

$95,419

Drain the Swamp Ohio

Justin Alexander

Student

$109,700

$0

$109,700

Trump MAGA

Tina Carolan

Retired

$100,201

$3,560

$96,641

MacArthur Victory Fund

Michael Robinson

Ridgeview Asset Management

$100,000

$0

$100,000

Citizens for a Strong America, United for Progress

Pavan Agarwal

Sun West Mortgage

$100,000

$0

$100,000

California Victory 2018

John Foley

Wayzata Investment Partners

$100,000

$0

$100,000

American Jobs & Growth PAC

Larry Davis

LNS CAPITAL

$100,000

$0

$100,000

Trump Victory

Marc Merill

Riot Games

$100,000

$0

$100,000

Centrist Project Election Fund

William Brothers

Arizona Facilities Supply

$100,000

$250

$99,750

Trump Victory

Ben Kante

SeneGence International

$100,000

$1,500

$98,500

California Victory 2018

John Garcia

World Wide Medical Services

$100,000

$10,000

$90,000

American Victory Fund 2010

Chart includes donations made from Jan. 1, 2017 to Dec. 31, 2017

At top of the list: Greg Lindberg, a North Carolina “bootstrap entrepreneur” who cut a $500,000 check to the North Carolina Republican Party. Lindberg gave just over $10,000 to a Democrat in the statehouse — the rest went to Republicans — but his lawyer insists he is “very nonpartisan.”

R.W. Habboush, the international investor, dropped six-figures on both the Republican National Committee and Trump’s inauguration.

Habboush’s son, Wadie, reportedly visited the White House twice last year to discuss the U.S. lifting sanctions on Venezuela. The meetings didn’t stop the U.S. Treasury Department from announcing it would impose new sanctions on Venezuela.

William Brothers, the president of an Arizona-based medical marijuana wholesaler, gave $100,000 to Trump Victory.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is no friend of cannabis: Under his tenure, the Department of Justice has cracked down on marijuana by rescinding lenient Obama-era prosecution guidelines for states with some form of legalization.

In March, Trump appointed Scott Gottlieb commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees cosmetic manufacturing and labeling. Its oversight includes whether cosmetics are “improperly labeled or deceptively packaged products,” as Romper noted. Gottlieb has accused the FDA in the past of over-regulating products.

Kante hadn’t made federal contributions until 2017, when he gave $250,000 to the Trump inauguration and $100,000 to California Victory Fund.

Lianbo Wang and Bo Li of Thompson Education Center, a proposed private higher education campus in New York, gave over $450,000 combined to Trump Victory and the RNC, which Trump Victory is affiliated with.

Thompson Education Center is the latest real estate venture of Long Island businesswoman Sherry Li, who previouslyproposed a Chinese Disneyland in the Catskill Mountains that aimed to attract wealthy Chinese investors through a federal program that reserves visas for charitable foreign investors. Sherry Li herself made major contributions to both Trump Victory and the RNC in 2017.

Michelle Ainge, whose husband is the general manager of the Boston Celtics, gifted $250,000 to Conservative Utah, a super political action committee (PAC) that supported her son’s unsuccessful primary bid for a U.S. House seat.

The top new liberal spender was Wall Street investment banker Austin Marxe, who gave to the Senate Majority PAC. Marxe donated just over $11,000 to political causes in the last 14 election cycles but gave $30 million to his alma mater in 2016.

Patricia Walker, the Texas retiree, gave over $100,000 in small donations — many of those $50 or less — through ActBlue, a liberal PAC that bundles and transmits earmarked contributions from individuals raised on their website to specific candidates.

Many Democratic candidates have relied increasingly on grassroots fundraising and small contributions. ActBlue has raised nearly $4 million dollars in the 2018 election cycle.

Marc Merill is the CEO of Riot Games, the developer of “League of Legends.” Merril gave $100,000 to Centrist Project Election Fund, a nonpartisan PAC which, according to its website, is dedicated to solving problems by “making the political process work better.”